Between the here

[seahearth]

 This is moving day. Not very much moving, really -- just a bag of bedding & a bedroll & some clothes -- books, the rest of my wardrobe, and my chair will follow along later. The rain decided to rain for the occasion never-the-less, which is really a boon despite the drying that will need to be done, because the rain doesn't spend much time here at the moment. I'm at uni now with my somewhat damp stuff. I'm told the Finnish couple are departed from their/my room, so I should think in about half an hour I'll go over there. 

Yesterday me, ablackart, and leaflemming went to Jordan Peele's Us. It is terrifying. I can't actually remember being so scared in a movie as I was in the opening scene, though I'm sure I must have been sometimes when small. Is horror about solidifying what we define ourselves against so that we can question that defining? I've never thought about it; but if it is then I think Us is the most perfect horror I've seen. ablackart gave me The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang to read afterwards and then we all spent the evening watching Steven Universe.

There are cats at the flat. I am excited.

Comments

[landingtree]

I'm very glad you got the room!

Cats!

Oh dear, that description of Us makes me very much want to see it and not at all sure I'll be glad I did.

Is horror about solidifying what we define ourselves against so that we can question that defining?

From what little I've read of/about horror I'd say, not usually in the first instance, but it has often productively be used like that? I mean, I think horror has just as much potential to solidify what we define ourselves against so we can define ourselves against it. It's a question of whether a given bit of horror is interested in the fact that "Seems different from us + seems to threaten us somehow = EVIL" is a problematic equation.

(Over on Tor.com, the Lovecraft Reread is interesting commentary on a particular strand of this, Lovecraft being one of the great xenophobes in literature. His wrapping up of 'Entities inimical to humans, beyond human understanding, and fundamental to reality' inside 'and worshipped by all those dangerous races other than mine' has been turned against itself in many interesting ways).

Most of what I mean, I guess, is that I don't think 'What is horror about?' has a single answer, but I'm keen to see horror where that is what it's about.

[seahearth]

I haven’t met the cats yet. Mysterious cats.

And hmm. I feel as though even when the fearful thing is cleanly external and defeatable a lot of the horror comes from “is this in us, is this what we are too” — though the film may answer “no” to that. I don’t think the Alien or Pennywise or what have you would be as scary if part of us wasn’t empathising.
But i feel deidedly unsure about that — I may just be projecting my post-Us preoccupations. I do recommend you see it. Perhaps not alone though. Let me know if you’d like to go to it with me sometime.

I like the sound of the lovecraft subversion subgenre very much, though I may never actually read from it, having no investment with lovecraft.